INTRODUCTION: In recent days, by curtailing the supply of oil, food and other necessities, Eritrea has upped the ante against the UN troops; and the UN retaliated by threatening to transfer its operation and Troops to Ethiopia.

This has triggered a political squabble between Eritrea and the UN. The latter responded by effectively wrapping up its operations in Eritrea and relocating to Ethiopia. It seems the UN had had it with Eritrea and was out to embarrass the Eritrean government. Despite Eritrea's best effort to control the damage, the end result was may be too little too late. The damage is already done.

What is baffling is, why Eritrea decided to go for the jugular at this sensitive stage. My guess, this could not have been premeditated, and was not intended, to kick the UN troops out. It was a miscalculation that went terribly wrong. 

What is more baffling is, the UN's lack of resolve and its readiness to abandon its mission without a fight. The UN should have refused to be bullied or to take orders, be it from Eritrea or Ethiopia. The UN should have rejected any call for relocation until its mandate expires.

Whatever the rational behind it, this premature decision could have inadvertently ignited a confrontation between Ethiopia and Eritrea. This is bad for the UN image and a bad precedent setting decision.

Having said that, however, I have to commend the blue helmets for a job well done. At a minimum, we should give them credit for maintaining a relative peace despite the lack of cooperation from both parties. The blue helmets deserve our heartfelt gratitude.

Now, we have to wait and see. I have a feeling the UN is waiting to remove its troops out of harms way before its next move. More importantly, the reaction of the Ethiopian government is another factor in the equation.

THE LONG TROUBLED HISTORY: After many years of lukewarm relationship between the UN and Eritrea, PIA went out of his way to inform the UN troops that they are not needed anymore. The reason: the border issue is resolved. This was followed by the UN accusing Eritrea of intentionally curtailing the supply of food, fuel and other necessities. 

The UN retaliated by relocating its troops to Ethiopia; and the Eritrean government did not take this very well. What followed was a diplomatic squabble that simply defies logic. First, the Eritrean government allowed some UN troops to cross the border and then abruptly changed its mind and closed the route.

Eritrea is now asking the UN to congregate its troops and equipment in Asmara. This has infuriated the United Nations as well as many countries that has volunteered their citizens to serve under the UN flag. With one single diplomatic blunder, Eritrea may have lost the goodwill of the UN, as well as more than fifty member-states.

From all indication, it seems, Eritrea was not prepared for such a drastic reaction by the UN and has to bend backwards to reverse the damage. The Eritrean ambassador to the UN is doing his utmost best; but the damage is done.

However, I am encouraged by the words of the Eritrean ambassador to the UN. The ambassador is calling for an end to hostilities between the two countries. He has also indicated Eritrea's readiness to live in peace with its neighbor. Maybe what is needed at this point is a drastic measure to force the two leaders to come to their senses and give peace a chance.

After all, the withdrawal of the UN troops may not be that bad. It may even act as a catalyst to goad the two leaders to face the harsh reality and may force them to make urgent decision. With no UN troops to blame and a very volatile situation at hand, this could be a wake up call.

It seems the two governments are very careful this time. It has to be tough to control and manage more than 200,000 men in arms, in such a limited area. This says a lot about the professionalism of the two armies. Who knows, this time we may be spared the pain and suffering of the past years.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE: The border issue is a settled legal matter despite the protestations of the Ethiopian Prime Minister. It simply is a question of time before the border posts are planted on the ground. However, some house cleaning is needed and some bold steps have to be taken.

I. The Eritrean government should accept Ethiopia's condition for peace. If the issue is the concern of the people in the border areas, it is our concern too and we should be more than happy to meet them half way. And if there is some hidden agenda or conspiracy, then lets find out.

It is in our self interest to bring the war to a peaceful conclusion. If that self interest takes us to Washington or any other place, we should take that route and see that our self interest is served. To follow, repeatedly, a failed route and bad mouthing those who may come to our aid, is simply self defeating.

For more than a decade we had been waiting for a miracle to solve our problem. We prayed for the demise of the "Weyanes" and towards that end, we had been instigating and fomenting unrest throughout the region. So far, that strategy has failed.
 

It is time to mind our business and work for peace and prosperity in the region. At the end of the day, history will judge us for what we have done for the people of Eritrea and not for what we have done for the people of Ethiopia, Sudan or Somalia.

II. The mission that propelled the UN is long dead and gone. The objective of its mission had been eroded by both countries. The UN should fold its operation and take the matter to the security council. Then a full fledged diplomatic initiate should be undertaken with a single mandate of ending the crises.

The UN should warn the two governments, in no uncertain terms, that they are living on a borrowed time and their full cooperation is required. After that, the UN should be ready to use the full force of the UN, including sanctions, blockades and haul all those responsible for new battle before the international court of justice.

CONCLUSION: It is time to bring the war to a peaceful conclusion. It is time to bring the boys and girls back home. Our people are tired of war and rumors of war. We simply can't ask the youth to waste their lives in the trenches of Badme.

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No excuse of national security is acceptable, anymore. We know that either of the two governments, i.e. Eritrea or Ethiopia, can resolve the border issue at any time. It is as simple as Ethiopia accepting the deal it signed or Eritrea accepting Ethiopia's precondition for peace.

It is time for the silent intellectuals to speak and write and save their people and country. It is immoral to abandon the people and pretend to be an innocent bystander. It is not enough to default to criticism behind closed doors. We now have the supreme obligation to stop another war.

For those who are still pretending that all is well and good, the hope and the dream that has driven all Eritreans is slowly dying. The young, both men and women, are abandoning the country in droves. The economic collapse is simply staggering and the diplomatic alienation is unbelievable.

Those who are left behind are not fairing any better. There is no educational opportunity to speak of and no professional development. The country has become a huge military camp with no end in sight. The recruits from the first round are still serving in the military since more than ten years ago. The national service is becoming a veritable "Das Hawya" - a one way ticket to perpetuity.

A few years from now, unless things change, Eritrea will be forced to import the next professionals and educators, not from India or Nigeria, but from the neighboring countries, like the Sudan, and yes, Ethiopia, too. What a letdown to the dreams of our martyrs.

We have to stop blaming others for our misfortunes. Many of us has consciously elected to outsource our destiny and then tend to blame others for our misfortune. The usual suspects, the colonizers and the Neo-colonizers, are long gone.

The genocide in Rwanda, Darfur, Kenya and many other African countries is of our making. The Ethio-Eritrean border war that has caused so much pain and suffering is our own baby. It could have been stopped, right from the very beginning, if either of the two leaders were willing to talk and compromise.

However, compromise and conflict resolution is not in our blood. We are more apt to carry a gun or the machete and go on a killing spree. Kill, the very people that were our friends, our neighbors and our spouses.

Something has to change; and it has to change quickly. We should not let the repeat offenders, the very people who were supervising the mayhem and killing, to stay in power indefinitely.

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